Virginia Registered Agent

Responsibilities of a Virginia Registered Agent

A registered agent’s duty is straightforward—accepting and forwarding official notices, such as:

• Lawsuits
• Court summons
• Subpoenas
• Annual registration fee notices

To fulfill this responsibility, the agent must be present during regular business hours at a designated physical location—registered office—to which all notices will be delivered. The registered office must be a physical address, which means P.O. boxes are not allowed. The only exceptions are cities/towns with up to 2,000 residents with no street address tied to the registered office.

If your agent is efficient and responsible, you can meet your legal and regulatory obligations without delays. Any failure to receive or deliver a notice timely can be dangerous and disrupt your operations.

For example, if your organization is involved in litigation, and the agent doesn’t accept/forward service of process, you might miss your court hearing. This will most likely result in default judgment—a ruling made in the plaintiff’s favor due to your absence.

Virginia Registered Agent Requirements

According to Section 13.1-1015 of the Virginia State Code, you have three options when choosing a registered agent:

1. An individual residing in the state
2. A domestic organization other than yours
3. A foreign organization authorized to transact in Virginia

If you go with an individual, you can only choose between the following:

• A member of the Virginia State Bar
• An organization’s official (a corporation’s director or a member/manager of an LLC)

Unlike most other states, Virginia doesn’t allow the appointment of third parties like friends or family members unless they fall under the above two categories. You can still appoint yourself, though, assuming you’re serving as an official of your organization.

Still, appointing yourself (or anyone from your organization, for that matter) might not be wise because you risk being served lawsuits in front of your team or clients.

A much better alternative is opting for another organization that specializes in providing registered agent services. Such organizations are often referred to as commercial registered agents, and they handle your notices with utmost efficiency and discretion.

How To Appoint/Change a Registered Agent in Virginia

If you’re registering a new organization with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, you’ll appoint an agent in your formation documents, which depend on your business structure:

Organizations expanding from other jurisdictions must name a registered agent in the foreign qualification filings.

In any case, you only need the agent’s name and address (registered office), which you’ll include in the appropriate section of your documents.

If you already have a registered agent but wish to partner with a different one, you must submit the Statement of Change of Registered Office/Registered Agent. You can file the change online or request the appropriate form from the State Corporation Commission, which will be emailed to you.

A commercial registered agent can file this statement on your behalf, which is a notable benefit of choosing them over an individual.

Note that if your current agent resigns, you have 31 days to find a new one and submit the Statement of Change. If you don’t do it, the State Corporation Commission will set your organization’s status to “pending inactive.” If you still don’t have an agent by the end of the second month, your rights to operate in Virginia will be revoked, which is known as administrative dissolution.

Virginia Registered Agent Service by Harbor Compliance

At Harbor Compliance, we combine extensive experience with robust industry know-how to offer a reliable, efficient Registered Agent Service. By partnering with us, you get:

• Same-day delivery of time-sensitive notices from our local office in Virginia Beach
• A phone call in case of a lawsuit to ensure important legal notices aren’t missed
• A team of experts available to receive your notices at any time during regular business hours
• A secure Client Portal for accessing your notices and pre-filled state forms

We can help your organization operate in accordance with Virginia’s laws in many ways beyond serving as your registered agent. The main services from our extensive portfolio include:

• Comprehensive entity lifecycle management—Harbor Compliance can help you reserve a name, register and manage DBAs, file your initial and annual reports, and even dissolve your organization if necessary.
• Document filing and retrieval—Whether you need a certificate of good standing or authority, certified copies, or other important documents, we can obtain them for you swiftly. If you need to file anything with the State Corporation Commission, our drop-off filing service can expedite the process and prioritize your filings.
• Beneficial ownership information reporting—We can take over submitting your beneficial ownership information filings to the Federal Crimes Enforcement Network. We can file your initial report and any updates and corrections to help you meet the requirements set by the Corporate Transparency Act.
• Nonprofit formation—Harbor Compliance can complete the entire incorporation or charitable registration process and secure your 501(c) tax exemption.
• Business licensing support—Our team can help you obtain and manage general business licenses, as well as industry-specific ones (construction, security, engineering and architecture, etc.).
• Tax registration—If you need help with tax-related obligations like obtaining an EIN, sales and use tax registration, or payroll tax registration, we’re here to make the process a breeze.

Individual Virginia Registered Agents vs. Harbor Compliance

If you decide to go with an individual registered agent, you have three options, each coming with significant drawbacks:

1. Yourself—You’d need to be available at the registered office at all times during business hours, and your personal information would enter the public record. Appointing yourself also isn’t an option if you run a multistate organization.
2. Someone from your organization—You might be served lawsuits in front of partners and clients, which can be detrimental to your organization’s reputation.
3. A third-party member of the Virginia State Bar—Your agent might miss a notice due to personal obligations, emergencies, and various other reasons.

The best way to avoid the above risks is to appoint a commercial registered agent like Harbor Compliance. The main benefits of partnering with us include the following:

• Privacy—When you appoint us, our information is listed with the State Corporation Commission instead of yours.
• Discretion—All notices are delivered to the Client Portal that you can limit access to, ensuring information is shared on a need-to-know basis.
• Security—We implement industry-standard security protocols and in-house practices to protect your data.
• Flexibility—Thanks to our nationwide presence, you can appoint Harbor Compliance in any state you operate in and manage all your notices in one place.
• Availability—Someone from our team is always available at our Virginia Beach office during business hours, so there’s no risk of missed notices.

How To Appoint Harbor Compliance as Your Virginia Registered Agent

You can leverage our Registered Agent Service in three scenarios:

1. Forming a new organization in Virginia
2. Expanding into the state from another jurisdiction
3. Changing your current registered agent

Forming a New Organization

If you’re registering a new legal entity in Virginia, we can help it get off the ground quickly through three services:

1. Incorporation
2. Nonprofit formation
3. LLC formation

Choose the right service according to your entity’s structure, and we’ll handle the registration process from start to finish—including the appointment of Harbor Compliance as your registered agent.

If you prefer to register independently, you can appoint us in three steps:

1. Order our Registered Agent Service.
2. Go to the Client Portal to find our Virginia Beach address and pre-filled registration forms.
3. Complete and submit the forms.

Expanding Into Virginia

Obtaining a Virginia certificate of authority can be a complex and time-consuming process. That’s why Harbor Compliance offers a robust Foreign Qualification Service package that helps you check all the necessary boxes without hassle.

All you need to do is complete the wizard, and we’ll take it from there. We’ll help you expand effortlessly and offer the Registered Agent Service at no additional cost for a year if you opt for the package.

Changing Your Agent

If you switch to Harbor Compliance from your current agent, we can update the State Corporation Commission to save you time and energy.

As you order the Registered Agent Service, you’ll see the Change of Agent service option right before checking out. Select it and complete the purchase, and we’ll make the change on your behalf.

Let Harbor Compliance Serve as Your Registered Agent in Virginia

With Harbor Compliance, you won’t need to worry about delayed or missed correspondence. Order our Registered Agent Service today, and you’ll get a trusted partner to help you navigate Virginia’s regulatory landscape.

To meet your statutory obligations more effortlessly, you can do the following:

• Reach out to us and inquire about our additional services.
• Assess your organization’s current regulatory standing with a free Harbor Compliance Score™.
• Schedule a demonstration of our advanced software solution and see how it can help you stay on top of your obligations.

If you need a registered agent beyond Virginia, refer to the following table to learn about agents in other states: